Brian Sacawa | Sounds Like Now

It’s common knowledge that obituaries of well known figures are written well in advance of their demise. It’s from that bureau that we have the following video obit for Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Reminiscing about last year’s SPARK Fesitval a couple of posts ago reminded me about the experience of meeting Alvin Lucier, who was the event’s feautred guest composer. On my third concert of the festival—actually a joint recital with violinist Maja Cerar—I performed Lucier’s Spira Mirabilis for bass sustaining instrument (a.k.a. baritone saxophone) and amplified electric […]

One of my favorite shows on Saturday NPR is Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, the weekly humorous NPR news quiz. In a portion of the show called “Not My Job,” host Peter Sagal invites prominent guests on to answer questions about esoteric topics they mostly likely have no knowledge of whatsoever. Back in December, Peter’s […]

The holiday for the rest of us. Popularized in an episode of Seinfeld, the “holiday” is now celebrated in varying degrees of seriousness throughout the world. Here’s a small Festivus primer for your celebration today:
+ The symbol of Festivus is a bare aluminum pole, an icon chosen for its opposition to the highly-decorated and overly-commercialized […]

(Or: why Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius.) Sacha Baron Cohen is the chameleon-like British comedian best known for his HBO series Da Ali G Show. On the show, Cohen interviews unsuspecting people in the guise of three very unique, but equally maladroit, characters.
Ali G, the show’s namesake, is a wannabe gangsta/hip-hop journalist from the […]

Some sharp satire from Alex Ross over the Hyperion Records case. How about the Alex Ross edition of Prokofiev’s Sarcasms?

Anyone who’s been to Japan and seen a hip-looking girl wearing a t-shirt that said something like “Open All Night”–clearly not understanding what it might be interpreted as–will appreciate www.engrish.com, a website that highlights “the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design.”

First Lady Laura Bush had some real zingers for the President at the White House Correspondents Dinner. (Courtesy of Wonkette! via The Standing Room.)